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CVC Capital Partners, the European buyout firm that has been one of the most active throughout the financial crisis, has not reined in its fundraising ambitions despite the current despondent mood in the sector.

The firm is aiming to raise a new fund at about the same size as its previous vehicle, according to a person familiar with the situation. CVC raised €10.75bn in 2008 in what was a much healthier pre-crisis fundraising market. An attempt to match that size will make it the largest fundraising attempt in Europe since the financial crisis.

The attempt is ambitious – not least because CVC will face a lot of competition from rivals for funds at a time when the fundraising climate is difficult.

Other large European firms such as BC Partners and EQT Partners have raised vehicles of a similar size to their previous funds, but they were smaller, at €6.5bn and €4.75bn respectively. BC’s €6.5bn fund is currently the largest raised since the financial crisis in 2008.

Firms that have raised larger funds in the past, such as Apax Partners, which raised €11.2 in 2007, and Permira, which raised €11.1bn in 2006, have both lowered the targets for their next vehicles. Apax is hoping to raise €9bn and has so far reached €4.3bn, while Permira is looking for €6.5bn.

Funds are also taking longer to raise – with the average amount spent on the road now at 17 months, according to data provider Preqin. In 2007 more than half of funds raised their capital within a year.

CVC will be hoping to rely on its track record, which is regarded as being superior to many of its peers. Late last year one senior investor called it “the best performer by a margin”. Across all of its investments, CVC has returned a multiple of 2.7-times money and an annual rate of return of 35.7%, according to its website.

Its portfolio companies include sports company Formula One, which is in the process of being listed; theme park operator Merlin Entertainments Group; directory services company Seat Pagine Gialle; paper company Smurfit Kappa Group; and brewer StarBev. It has assets under management of €24.1bn.

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CVC also stands out among the large European firms as being the only one to have had few senior management changes in recent years. However, while this is widely viewed as positive, one rival stressed the need for large firms to address succession issues. When asked about the issue late last year, one person close to CVC said succession planning was “not an issue” and that all its managing partners were under the age of 60.